


Albatross - Episode 3 "Welcome Aboard"

by Apartment41



Series: Albatross [2]
Category: Unspecified Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-04-03 18:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4110355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apartment41/pseuds/Apartment41
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kunai has fled her life of poverty and desperation.  She has survived the pirate attack that threatened to destroy her and any chance she had at a new life.  She's won herself a chance at more.  But not everyone is happy she's on board.</p><p>Now Kunai must adapt to a new way of life, among the stars and Spacers.</p><p>Her captain is Alexandria "Alyx" J. Falcout, a woman of no small legend.  Her comrades are psychopaths, mercenaries, gunslingers, pilots and engineers.</p><p>She's never been in space.  She's never lived in zero gravity.  And she's never been this far from home.<br/>But she's been shot at before.  Which is a good start.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

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ACT ONE

Kunai was the first one awake. She lay in her bunk for several minutes before picking her head off the pillow and looking around her little cabin. She couldn’t see anything with the lights off, but she sensed the ship around her: the thrumming of the air processor, the metallic clang of the engines, the heat pouring out of the bulkhead. She smiled. She’d been onboard less than a day, and she already loved this ship.

  
With a clap of her hands the lights sprang on around her, revealing the clothes scattered across the floor and her disastrously unkempt hair. Kunai paused at neither. After a quick search, she pulled on her freshly laundered clothes and was out the door, ready to explore the ship. Ready to explore her new home.

The corridor was shrouded in partial darkness, the only light provided by a bulb at the hatch, and another at the far end of the corridor. The lights were turned low, giving the hallway a sense of warmth.

Kunai tiptoed down the corridor, eager to not wake her shipmates, and potentially draw the wrath of the Captain. But she didn’t have to go far. The bathroom was directly opposite her own cabin. Kunai tapped once on the door’s keypad to ensure no one was inside, and then a second to open the door. She ducked quickly inside, and locked it behind her.

Kunai flicked the lights on and approached the toilet. It was a design not unlike the one she had back on Halcyon, except for a semi-transparent silver membrane that stretched across the bowl. Kunai crouched and studied this odd feature.

She glanced around the bathroom, hoping to find a manual, but to no avail. Growing more curious, she took one hand, and gently placed her palm against the membrane. She was about to apply light pressure when an electric motor started, and the soft sound of a suction pump being activated rang out.

Kunai quickly retracted her hand in fright, clutching it against her chest. She scowled at her own reaction, and unable to make heads or tails of the membrane, shrugged. Seeing no other option, she removed her bottoms, sat down, and did what she came to do.

“Aw, bad call,” she said half way through the process.

Kunai wrapped up quickly, and, after surveying the results, decided to move on quickly.

After undressing, she stepped into the shower stall and pulled the holographic menu up to eye level. She swiped through some of the opening tabs before arriving at what looked like shower settings.

Each crewmember already had their own selections pre-set. With a shrug of her shoulders, Kunai pressed on Alyx.  
When an icy jet of water blasted out of the nozzle at full force, Kunai shrieked, and surrounded on all sides by nozzles, slammed a balled fist against the display, ending the torrent immediately.

Shivering now, Kunai pulled up the pre-set menu again, and thinking more carefully this time, selected Jack.

Now, the nozzles delivered a soothing shower of warm water. Kunai sighed in relaxation, and mindful of the ten-minute window, began to scrub herself.

When the shower was finished, Kunai grabbed the same towel she’d used the day before, and pulled a comb from the storage space behind the sink’s mirror. She wasn’t certain who exactly owned the comb, but assumed from its simple black handle, and the black hairs that covered it, it likely belonged to Alyx.

Once she’d disciplined her hair, Kunai replaced the comb. She looked at herself in the mirror, and somehow felt a weight come off her shoulders. She felt good as she pulled at the strands of hair she’d dyed red. She felt free.

Finally done, Kunai replaced the comb, and stepped out of the bathroom, rinsed and ready for the day.

Kunai stopped outside the bathroom and quickly reviewed the layout of the Albatross. Her feet were planted on the deck, or outboard, she reminded herself. Which meant straight up was the port-side engine, so if she wanted to head towards the bridge but-then-stop-near-it-and-go-right-back she would have to go “up” and to her left: left at the airlock, into the cargo bay and on to the bridge. Where she’d stop just before, and turn around.

Smiling triumphantly, Kunai padded down the hallway as quietly as possible and mounted the ladder. As she climbed, Kunai’s smile became even wider, and got wider still with each rung. Slowly she could feel herself becoming weightless, and finally at the top, her momentum threatened to pull her off the ladder and send her tumbling into open air.

Mindful to hold onto something, Kunai popped her head out the open airlock and looked into the cargo bay. The massive room was only half empty: the little cargo the ship still held had been tied to the deck in one long row, to better calculate the ship’s center of gravity.

With some difficulty, Kunai lifted herself upwards by her hands. Then, just as her hips crossed the airlock threshold, she lifted her legs, the momentum propelling her upward at an even faster pace. Waving her arms and biting the inside of her lip to steady herself, she planted her feet on the deck. With one great explosion of energy, she launched off the plating and propelled herself towards the cargo.

Biting harder now, hands out above her head, Kunai closed in for landing. Her approach speed was good, her angle of attack was good, and her target was free of obstructions. Within a quarter second after jumping, her hands met the nylon webbing that covered her chosen landing site. Her arms and shoulders gently absorbed the impact and gracefully guided her feet to the paneled surface of the crate, her hands anchoring herself all the while. Slowly, Kunai shoved her feet under some of the webbing and stood, wearing the largest grin she’d ever known on the Albatross.

“You’re improving.” Kunai turned towards the stern just in time to see Captain Falcout drift past, heading towards the bridge. She was moving parallel to the cargo, her arms, legs and torso all in a straight line. In one smooth action, Alyx pointed a finger to the cargo, and scraped it along the surface, slowing her. When her desired speed had been reached, Alyx grabbed some nylon webbing and initiated a powerful side kick that flipped her long and cross ways, until she landed in a graceful half crouch.

Kunai stared open mouthed as Alyx stood; she wasn’t even bothering to anchor her feet, yet was absolutely stationary.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Kunai finally choked out. Alyx scanned Kunai up and down, her eyes narrow and critical.

“What are you doing out of your cabin at this hour?” The question was posed innocently enough, but Kunai sensed real danger behind every syllable.

Suddenly the teenager felt very nervous. She was still an unknown element on board: a stow away that could be a pirate spy, or aimed to murder the crew in their sleep and take the ship for herself. Allison’s threat of confinement to quarters loomed in Kunai’s mind as Alyx continued her scan.

On a more personal note, Kunai suddenly became aware of her appearance. She didn’t know if Alyx enforced some kind of grooming standard. Emily and Allison had longer hair than Kunai’s, but it was always tightly knotted or pulled into a ponytail. Kunai’s drifted freely in the weightless environment, and she frequently had to push it out of her way. Worse yet were her clothes; even freshly laundered, they still had rips and grease stains from years of heavy use. She looked like a slob.

Kunai looked at Alyx. As usual, she was perfect. Dark black hair pulled back into a bun so tight it probably registered as super-dense, her clothes were in perfect order, and there wasn’t an ounce of fatigue in her eyes or slackness to her step. She was crisp and ready. Like always.

“Um… exploring the ship,” she said, half asking. Alyx raised an eyebrow and studied Kunai.

“Walk with me,” Alyx said before heading for the bridge. For a moment, Kunai stared at Alyx, a quizzical look on her face. But Alyx paid her no mind.

Straining slightly, Kunai pushed off from the cargo and twisted until she could start pulling herself towards the bridge by her hands. Pulling with all her strength, she caught up in two seconds and assumed a forced poise by Alyx’s side.

“Remind me how old you are, Kunai,” Alyx said.

“Seventeen, ma’am.” Alyx nodded.

“And Jack says you’ve never been in space?” Kunai blushed.

“Yes, ma’am.” Kunai shrugged, a difficult task to do properly in zero-g. “I didn’t have a lot of opportunities growing up.” Alyx nodded again, and fixed a pained expression on her face.

The two floated in silence until reaching the bridge’s hatch. Alyx disengaged the lock and pulled the door open. Kunai watched her for a moment before starting towards the stern. But at the last moment, she glanced back, to see Alyx looking at her. With the slightest touch of a smile, Alyx waved Kunai inside.

“After you,” she said. Kunai smiled. With an eager pull of some cargo netting, floated inside the hatch, and onto the bridge.


	2. Chapter 2

There were three chairs and two couches.

Two of the chairs were on the lowest level, sunken into the deck, and surrounded by monitors and displays of all kinds. Alyx obviously sat in the other chair. It was towards the mid-center, and raised a quarter meter above the deck. It wasn’t as burdened by monitors, but rather built to leave the occupant unencumbered. Kunai made her way to the forward of the two couches, which were positioned below and behind Alyx’s chair. She’d observe, and learn.

After shutting the hatch closed behind them, Alyx floated into her chair and clipped herself in.

“Good morning, Albatross,” she said. Suddenly the bridge came to life, with every screen and display blinking into miraculous splendor. Even Alyx’s chair was suddenly surrounded on both sides by holographic displays. Kunai couldn’t recognize half the information they showed, but Alyx navigated through it all like she was born to it.

She looked at Kunai.

With a flick of her head, Alyx beckoned Kunai forward. Perhaps too quickly, the teenager flung herself towards the back of Alyx’s chair, grabbed onto some of the handholds that covered nearly every surface of it, and patiently waited.

Kunai looked over the screens. Although she didn’t understand the particulars, she understood enough to realize that Alyx was taking in information from a variety of sources: radar, mass detection, engine status, fuel status, and life support.

“You fly the ship with all this?” She asked.

Alyx smiled.

“Burke and Thai fly the ship. I use all of this to keep an eye on things.” She shrugged. “For peace of mind.”

Kunai nodded. Alyx sighed deeply, and briefly closed her eyes before looking at the screens with exhaustion.

“You okay, ma’am?” Kunai asked. Alyx smiled.

“I’m fine. I’m on watch.” Seeing Kunai’s puzzled look, Alyx laughed. “Old habit. Computers can monitor everything just fine, but… sometimes I like to do things for myself.” Alyx sighed again, briefly allowing Kunai to see just how exhausted she was. “Problem is, unlike the computer, I can get a little tired. And a little bored.”

Kunai smiled wide. She grabbed onto a handlebar on the outside of Alyx’s chair. Sliding her feet under the bar, she brought herself into a sitting position beside Alyx.

“Want some company?”  
Alyx thought for less than a heartbeat, before looking to Kunai with a smile.

 

“Why would you do that?” Alyx asked with a knowing look. Kunai laughed and gripped tightly around her knees, her whole body shaking.

“I was so nervous!” She cried. “And it was fun!”

Kunai laughed for near a minute, Alyx chuckling to herself and occasionally glancing at the monitors. When her uproar finally ended, Kunai took a long pull from her coffee cup. Each individual sip was a new adventure for Kunai; the cup was designed to operate in zero-g, and so relied on a self-sealing straw instead of an open top.

Kunai’s was a factory standard black, while Alyx’s had the Albatross’ insignia borne in white.

“What did your friends say?” Alyx asked.

“I never told them! Can you imagine?” Kunai laughed, tears now congealing at her ducts. Without gravity, they held fast to her cheeks, pooling by nature of surface tension. She placed a hand to her forehead, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

Suddenly Kunai was lightheaded, and her smile dropped. She held her mug in both hands and gazed into the middle distance while Alyx kept smiling. Noticing the shift in mood, Alyx placed a hand around Kunai’s ankle and looked into her eyes.

“Hey,” she said. “You alright?”

Kunai smiled brighter now. “Sorry!” Kunai laughed, playing with the straw. “I’m fine!” she reassured. Alyx wasn’t convinced. “What?” Kunai asked. Alyx cocked an eyebrow, and fixed Kunai with one of her more intimidating looks.

“Captain! I’m fine! Really.” Kunai continued her smile for a moment longer before pointing her thumb out the bridge’s hatch.

“I should get going. You wanted me to help Grim with breakfast, right?” Alyx maintained her look of concern, but nodded in ascent. Just as Kunai was about to start moving, she saw Burke and Thai float through the hatch. Alyx noticed as well, and raised a hand to Kunai, keeping her by her side.

“Stay, you’ll want to see this,” Alyx said.

“See what?” Kunai asked.

She watched as the two crewmen as they moved to their stations. Burke wore his usual sleepy expression, his hair almost as messy as Kunai’s, and his jumpsuit ruffled and unkempt. Thai on the other hand was pressed and ready, almost to Alyx’s level. But where Alyx held herself to a higher standard out of duty, Thai was only seeking approval.

The two men gave a silent nod to Kunai, which she returned, then made their way to their respective stations. They worked with practiced hands: activating displays, keying up diagnostics, interfacing with their equipment. They were deft and efficient; in no time they had the Albatross ready for flight.

“Alright, Burke, let’s start the day off right. Terminate spin,” Alyx ordered. Kunai looked at her. The feminine joy and banter had vanished. The cold truth of responsibility had taken its place. Alyx sat with her back straight, arms at her sides, and her chin up. She was the picture of confidence and poise.

An alarm sounded throughout the ship, and through one of the bridge’s windows, Kunai watched thrusters on the wings fire, bringing the Albatross to level flight. She couldn’t feel any change in inertia though; the bridge rolled counter to the induced spin. Down in his cabin however, Jack began to slide out of bed. He was awake and somewhat alarmed by the time he hit the deck.

“Position check, Thai,” Alyx said.

“Ma’am, relative to Rockport Marker 01, we are at 54776 dash 62311 dash 94327,” Thai recited with enthusiasm.

“Burke, how’s our ship?” Alyx asked.

“Fine,” the helmsman replied.

“Burke,” Alyx said threateningly. Burke looked at his screens, groaning all the while.

“Oh-my-god it’s seven in the morning… whatever. Engine shakedown complete, FTL drive is spinning. We’re ready to Jump.”

“FTL?” Kunai whispered to Alyx.

“Faster Than Light. Kunai, we’re about to travel five light years in the blink of an eye,” Alyx whispered back. “Thai, compute a Jump solution and transmit when ready.”

“Course ready, and transmitted.” Thai said. He turned to Alyx. “Ma’am, at max speed, we should arrive eight hours after the Jump.”

“Burke?”

“Course received, and laid in. Just say the word,” Burke said. Alyx looked at Kunai.

“Ready?” Kunai looked out the viewport again. The science that surrounded this event was beyond her. But she recognized the gravity of her situation better than most.

The Albatross and her crew were about to leap across space to one of mankind’s footholds among the stars. Kunai nodded to Alyx, who looked at Burke with gravity.

“Execute.”

Outside the viewport, Kunai could see millions of stars. They were every color, every size, every brightness; all of them arranged across an infinite canvas. There was amassive splotch for a nebula, glowing an angry red, and twisting into a tremendous cloud. And there too was the infinite band of the Milky Way galaxy, stretching all around them.

And they all disappeared so quickly that Kunai had barely noticed their absence. There existed no measure of time small enough to properly illustrate just how quickly the Albatross had moved. But for a brief moment, the ship had ceased to exist, before splitting the universe wide-open 20 light years away.

Now a whole new field of stars surrounded them, and a dumbstruck Kunai looked to her Captain, mouth agape. Alyx smiled warmly, and looked out the viewport.

Burke bobbed his head up and down, a look of near surprise on his face. “Alright,” he finally said.

“Thai, give me a position check and plot our trajectory. Burke, reinstate artificial gravity. Inform me when ready,” Alyx ordered.

With grace, she pushed off from her seat and headed forward, Kunai in tow.

The two arrived at the viewport, Burke and Thai working around them. Alyx pressed her hands against the glass, a serene expression on her face. Kunai braced against a strut, and hooked one foot under a handlebar. Alyx stared at the stars outside.

“I love sailing,” she whispered. The hardness was gone, and her eyes had a calm, almost soft touch to them. Alyx inhaled next to Kunai, “When I was your age, I’d already been on my father’s ship for years. Since I was a little girl, all I’d ever wanted to do was sail.”

She glanced at Kunai, her mouth slightly open, like she was searching for the right words. The stars cast half her face in nuclear light, the other shadowed in the darkness of the bridge. “Have you ever read stories about ancient sailors? Back on Earth?”

Kunai shook her head, “No, ma’am.”

“Thousands of years ago, men used to sail on water with ships made of wood, with only wind for power and stars for guidance.” She smiled. “I sometimes wonder; what was that like? Just you, your ship, and the sea.” The smile disappeared. Alyx gave a great, deep sigh, and looked over at Kunai. “Do well on this ship, Kunai.” She patted the teen on the back, and pushed off, towards her chair. “There’s a lot of ocean out there. I want you to see all of it.”

Kunai continued to stare out the window, sadness growing on her face. “Yes, ma’am,” she whispered.

For several minutes, Alyx tapped away at her displays while Kunai gazed out the window. Eventually the teen pushed off, and endeavored to begin her first real day on the Albatross.


	3. Chapter 3

Breakfast onboard was quickly becoming Kunai’s favorite time of day. It was busy, crowded, hectic, and frequently stressful. But there was laughter, and music, and everyone on board, even Allison, got together to enjoy a good meal.

Kunai and Grim were hard at work over the stove. Grim was stirring a pan of eggs. Real eggs. Alyx had said that so close to a port, they could afford to break out the fancy stores. He attended the dish like it was his own first born. A dash of pepper, the slightest touch of Tabasco. It was a labor of love.

Kunai on the other hand struggled with the hash browns. At first she’d thought that nothing could be easier than stirring a pot full of what looked like mush. But soon the sliced potatoes had hardened until they were thick as concrete, and the incredible effort of stirring them threatened to break her spoon. Grim looked over at her, and taking pity on Kunai, helped her stir.

“I appreciate you helping, kiddo, but you’ve got a lot to learn about cooking. You’ve got to use just the right amount of water, or it’ll always stick!” He said in his deep voice. Kunai brushed his hand away from the spoon, added a spritz of water, and kept stirring.

“So what’s the right amount then?” Grim returned to his eggs, and gave his beard a single touch.

“I’ve no idea. It’s all in the feeling,” he flicked his spoon at Kunai, a pinch of egg white smacking into her forehead. She wiped it off with a dish rag and shot Grim a nasty look.

The hash browns were getting easier to stir, so Kunai added a pinch of pepper. Next to her, Grim grabbed the Tabasco bottle again and poured in a few more drops.

Kunai gave him a disgusted look.

“Everything tastes better with spices!” Grim said. Kunai recoiled.

“How did you ever get picked cook?”

Grim laughed.

“Well it’s not my only job! I’ve just got a talent for this kind of thing. And on a ship, everyone’s got a useful talent,” he turned away from the stove. With his spoon, he pointed to Emily, who sat at the far end of the table, close to Allison.

“The Doc there can sow anything back together. Everything from your jumpsuit,” he poked Kunai in the chest with the spoon, “to you!” He stirred the eggs. “Thai’s got his special knack with electronics, and I’ve never seen anyone navigate zero-g like Burke. Allison knows the gyroscopes backward and forward, and can drill a man between the eyes half an astronomical unit away. Jack’s got that stupid guitar of his,” he bumped Kunai, “although I’m sure you don’t mind,” Kunai blushed. “And of course Alyx.” He paused. “Well, you know her.”

Grim wafted his hand through the air, bringing the smell of expertly cooked eggs to his nose. With a tempered pallet, he concluded his dish satisfactory and clicked off the stove. Kunai did the same. Picking up their dishes and moving to the table, Grim patted Kunai on the back.  
Alyx stood, and the kitchen came to an immediate silence. Confident that she had everyone’s attention, Alyx breathed deeply, placed her hands on her hips, and began her address.

“Seven more hours of smooth sailing, and we’ll be at Rockport. I want everyone ready well before then. Understood?” The crew nodded their heads in ascension.

“First order of business is getting the ship repaired. Thankfully, the Guild should have us covered. We’ll also be taking on cargo. Grim and I will ask around, see if there’s any jobs worth out time,” Alyx gestured towards Grim and Kunai, who had begun silently ladling out food. “Hopefully we can pick up another side job and reconnect with the main fleet later. Compensate for our losses. Objections?” Everyone save for Kunai shook their head. She had no right to object, or even contribute in this meeting. Instead, she quickly found her seat, and waited patiently for Alyx to finish.

“Questions?” Alyx asked.

After a sufficient silence, Alyx nodded, and the crew began their meal with almost violent energy.

 

When the food had been consumed, the crew stood, and in near silence, departed for their stations, save Alyx.

“Grim, Kunai, a moment,” she said from her seat at the head of the table. Kunai glanced towards Grim before approaching Alyx.

“Thanks for helping with breakfast, Kunai. It was good,” Alyx said. She smiled warmly and took a sip from her coffee mug. Kunai looked at her boots.

“You ordered me to help, ma’am,” Kunai mumbled. Alyx glanced at Grim, who was leaning up against the bulkhead. The two exchanged a quick smile.

“I know. Still. Thanks.” Alyx sipped at her coffee again. Suddenly her mood changed from contemplative to the deadly seriousness she wore on the bridge. “Kunai, you understand that if you’re to live on this ship, and collect a paycheck, you’ll have to work?” Kunai didn’t hesitate.

“Yes, ma’am! I’ll do whatever you need!” she said with confidence.

“Good. You’ll be doing a little bit of everything.” Alyx stood. “I’ll only assign you duties I know you can handle. Sometimes simple things like cooking and cleaning…

And sometimes more complicated things like putting the engines back together and fixing the reactor.” Alyx placed a hand on Kunai’s shoulder. The two smiled. “You can always come to myself or Grim about anything,” Alyx smiled wider. “I expect you to carry out your orders without delay, and without undue complaint. Can you do that?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Alyx sighed in satisfaction, her face dropping into an expression of deep exhaustion.

“Good.” Alyx straightened her back, and gave one final squeeze to Kunai’s shoulder. “You’ll do great. I know it.”

Kunai beamed, and nodded solemnly.

Alyx smiled and gave Kunai’s shoulder one final squeeze.

She then headed for the ladder, her coffee mug raised to port. Just as she was leaving the kitchen, Alyx turned.

“Now, Kunai. To work!”


	4. Chapter 4

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ACT TWO

“That was a lovely speech and all, but first things first, of course, Kunai,” Grim said as he tore off a loaf of bread. “We need to get you oriented. Show you the lay of the land.”

Kunai cocked an eyebrow. “Like a tour?”

Grim scoffed and swallowed the bread. “I prefer my phrasing, but yes.”

Emily’s head suddenly popped out of the airlock hatch. Her eyes beamed, and a grin stretched from ear to ear. “Ooh, Grim!” She called.

With one energetic pull, Emily ejected herself from the hatch and landed with both feet on the deck. She was by Kunai’s side in a second, with both of her arms tightly wrapped around one of Kunai’s.

“Can I give it to her?” She asked with a pleading look that disregarded Kunai’s wide-eyed terror. “She needs a physical later, right? So it’s convenient for me!”

“A what?” Kunai asked in growing alarm.

“So I might as well,” Emily finished with a shrug.

When Grim failed to immediately support her plan, Emily’s eyes began to well up in tears, and her lips curled down into a pout. Kunai placed one hand on the doctor’s shoulder and attempted to extricate herself from Emily’s grasp, to no avail. The Doctor had a vice grip, and it refused to budge.  
After a moment of deliberation, Grim tilted his head to one side and shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

“Yay!” Emily shouted.

Grim tore off one more piece of bread and began to march towards the hatch, ignoring Kunai’s pleading look. “Have fun, Kunai. Come find me when you’re done.”

 

When the hatch closed behind Grim with a loud clank!, Emily broke her grip on Kunai’s arm, and snatched the teenager’s hand in her own. Now she looked into Kunai’s eyes with a burning passion, which was not returned.

“Let’s get started!” Emily said. “So, this is the kitchen!” She said with a tremendous wave around the room.

Kunai’s false smile began to crack somewhat.

“The den!” Emily said in the same cheery tone.

The two had gone no more than three meters, but there was an immediate shift in the tone of the room, as Kunai had noted when she first climbed up the ladder the day before. Far from the kitchen’s almost rustic state, the den was one of near extravagance. There was a large couch that could easily accommodate a half dozen people. There were throw pillows, sitting pillows, chairs, blankets, a hammock pinned to the back wall, and a small radiator with a holographic projection meant to give it the appearance of a fire place.

All of it colored deep shades of red, crimson, orange and gold. The effect was one of deep intimacy and togetherness. Each chair, pillow, couch and blanket was engineered to force people to sit close to one another, to share body heat, and forge a sense of unity.  
Kunai wanted to scoff. This was not a sense she’d ever tried to cultivate. But by the way Emily treated the place, the den was held in high regard. Kunai mentally shrugged. This was likely one more thing she’d had to become used to.

She glanced downward and tried to suppress thoughts of home.

 

“Your cabin!” Emily shouted.

She banged on the keypad, prompting the hatch to slide open, revealing the inside of her room. Little had changed from the night before. Kunai’s exercise bag was tossed into one corner of her room, and her bed sheets were tangled and mussed, but apart from that, it was the same old cabin: four bare, gunmetal grey walls, one bed, one small desk, one tiny bookshelf, and two small reading lights.  
Kunai frowned. The room was so grey and bare it was almost depressing.

 

“The bathroom,” Emily shouted. She wheeled on Kunai, thrusting one finger into her belly, her eyes narrowed in suspicions. “You know how to work the toilet, right?”

She asked in a low tone.

Kunai looked down at the tiny doctor.

“Uh, sure,” she said sheepishly. This failed to convince Emily, whose eyes narrowed even further. Kunai glanced at the ceiling as she remembered the morning fiasco.

“Well… kind of.”

Emily stared at her. “Nobody taught you yesterday?”

Kunai blushed. “I didn’t have to go yesterday.”

Emily leapt to the side of the toilet, lifted the seat up, and once again assumed her cheerful disposition. “It’s not too different from a normal toilet. Except, because it has to work in zero gravity, a light suction is applied to a person so their waste is pulled downward, and doesn’t float free.”  
She emphasized this point by simulating a suction effect with her hands and arms while making sucking sounds with her mouth.  
When she finally finished, Emily beckoned Kunai closer, and indicated the toilet bowl. “There’s also a semi-permeable membrane that the body passes through, but won’t allow waste to exit.”

She pointed to the same barrier that Kunai had noticed that morning. Emily pressed the tip of her finger against the barrier, applied a light pressure, and pushed her finger through. The barrier maintained its form, even as Emily moved her finger around.

Her demonstration finished, Emily washed her hand in the sink, leaving Kunai staring at the toilet in shock.

“Wait, so the suction is intentional,” she said slowly. “And you’re supposed to… actually sit through the membrane, thing?” She said, slightly louder.

Emily looked at her, laughing cheerfully. “Of course. Why?”

“Uh…” Kunai began with a shrug and a glance to the deck.

Burke leapt into the doorframe, livid. “Galaxy, that was you!” Kunai turned and screamed. “I had to clean up that mess!” He emphasized with a jab of his finger. “You owe me for that, Kunai! You owe me!”

The two women stared dumfounded, before Emily shrugged. “Moving on!” She sang.

 

“Cargo bay!” Emily shouted over her shoulder as a visibly ill Kunai struggled to control her increasingly violent stomach contortions. It was a difficult task, as every spasm forced Kunai to bend over in pain, throwing off her trajectory, sending her careening into cargo.

 

Eventually, Kunai landed at the entrance to the bridge, where Emily waited patiently with the same chipper smile.

“Bridge!”

Kunai glared at her with a mix of hatred and wonder.

As Emily took off the towards the port wing, Kunai looked inside the hatch, and caught the eye of Alyx, who was leaning over in her chair, and looking back at Kunai.

The Captain delivered a half smile and nodded her head. Kunai beamed, and returned the gesture.

As Kunai took off after Emily, her stomach pain seemed to disappear, and was replaced by a sense of elation.

 

Emily led Kunai to the upper deck of the port wing, and physically pulled her into the next room.

“Storage!” True to its name, the inside of the room was little more than a massive cluster of crates, spare parts, and loose odds and ends stacked on top of one

another, slowly accumulating dust.

 

“Machine shop!” Inside, Jack labored over a computer directed tool that was busy shooting out sparks and metal shavings as it labored over a piece of titanium steel.

He glanced up to see Emily and Kunai standing in the open door. He nodded quietly to both and returned to his work.

The room was filled with machinery, from 3D printers to arc-welders to plasma cutters. All of it arranged and maintained with meticulous detail. The room was spotless and well lit, a far cry from the grungy, horribly unsafe conditions back on Halcyon. Kunai guessed she’d get to see a lot of this room before her time aboard the Albatross was over.

 

“Armory!” The door slid open, and Kunai gasped.

There were racks upon racks of weapons on the left wall. Massive assault blasters, compact shotguns, pistols, grenades, bombs, rocket launchers, sniper rifles, energy casters, mines, and knives. Lots and lots of knives.

There were long and thick combat knives. There were lean stilettos, and long bayonets. There were scores of them.

And at the back wall was a suit of armor: Allison’s suit. It was almost two meters tall, and stared at Kunai with its sliver of a visor, sending a chill running up and down her spine. The plating was thick, and the mechanical pseudo muscles were absolutely massive, bulging in coiled knots and protruding from under the armor plating at every joint. The armor’s master would be strong enough to rip steel and men alike.

But more than the dizzying array of arms and armor, the room was filled with clothes. They were draped over every surface! There was a black tank top draped over a rocket launcher. A pile of jeans shoved into a box, right next to a quartet of grenades. A large, loose bra hung over the scope of a sniper rifle.

Kunai smirked.

There on the right side was a collection of drawers, many of them pulled out, their contents tumbled onto the floor. There was also a broken screen, a collection of boots strewn across the deck, and one tattered dress crumpled into a ball.

Above the mess was Allison, resting in her hammock, and reading a physical magazine. When she noticed Emily and Kunai standing in the doorway, she leaned over the hammock’s side and stared at the pair in absolute fury.

“Get out!” She screamed. In one fluid motion, she threw the magazine at Kunai. Emily maneuvered away with practiced grace, but Kunai was slower, allowing the rather heavy magazine to strike her directly in the nose.

Kunai shouted in anger and back out of the door and into the hallway, massaging her face.

“Alyx will want you to clean all of this up, Allison,” Emily said calmly.

Allison sneered. “Then she can come down here and tell me herself,” she said somewhat more gently.

 

Emily stepped out of the armory, took Kunai’s hand, and led her down the ladder, and onto the lower deck. She then physically dragged her into the next room.

“Gym,” she cried cheerfully. Kunai shot a somewhat contemptuous glance at Emily. She was growing tired of the obvious statements.

The room was larger than the kitchen, but only just. It had a padded blue floor, with two white walls lined by racks of free weights and gym equipment: jump ropes, exercise balls, belts, bands, and all kinds of gear that were unfamiliar to Kunai. A treadmill, a simple weight system and bench occupied the far wall, along with a pull-up bar. The fourth wall was left mostly free, featuring only two pairs of boxer’s gloves and a speed bag.

Emily stood next to one of the weight racks. “Be careful with the weights, okay?”

“What, like don’t drop them on your feet?” Kunai asked.

Emily’s face slowly twisted into one of deep confusion. “Why would you do that?”

Kunai cocked an eyebrow. “Well… accidents… right?”

“Huh,” Emily said quietly. She shook her head. “No, I mean don’t throw the weights upward at speed.”

Kunai cocked an eyebrow in bewilderment. “Uh… Okay. Why?”

Emily smiled and picked up a fifteen-kilogram weight with ease. She hefted the weight, tossing it up and down, testing the feel and balance. When the weight landed in her palm, Emily inhaled deeply, gave a great primeval shout, squatted low, and tossed the weight into the air at tremendous speed.

The weight sped towards the ceiling, slowed, and then, right at the peak of its arc, stopped in mid-air.

Kunai stared at the weight. Dumfounded. “Whoa,” she whispered.

There was a deep part of her that was very suddenly terrified of the weight. She’d seen horrible things in her life. Things that would never leave her for a very long time. But this weight flew in the face of everything she’d ever seen. It was floating. Without machinery, without strings, without any sort of trickery. But there it hung, by the power of pure physics that escaped Kunai.

“Yeah. Space is wild, huh?” Emily said.

“Sure is,” Kunai whispered back.

“Moving on!”

 

“And this is the medical suite. Slash laboratory. Slash clinic,” Emily said proudly.

Kunai was too busy staring at the caged alien on the floor to notice anything else. Emily grabbed her buy the shoulders and sat her down on an examination table.

“Take a seat right there. And don’t mind him, perfectly harmless.” She opened a medicine cabinet and pulled out a number of materials before returning to Kunai, beaming.

“A little ginger ought to take care of that motion sickness!” Emily handed Kunai a vial of rust colored powder and a spoon. With some trepidation, the young sailor gulped down a mouthful, and with a light look of satisfaction, set the gifts on the bedside table. The Doc looked at Kunai with a broad smile.

“So… enjoying your time?” Kunai tilted her head slightly and raised her eyebrows in confusion. The Doc’s eyes widened slightly.

“On the ship! Are you enjoying your time on the Albatross? Adapting well?” Kunai smiled and nodded tentatively.

“Yeah… bit of a change though,” she said with a chipper laugh. Emily smiled too.

“Don’t worry, it’s all perfectly safe!” Emily smiled.

“No, I’m not afraid or anything, it’s just…” Kunai was on the verge of continuing when Emily retrieved her stylus and tablet, then looked at Kunai like she was a delicious meal waiting to be devoured.

“Good! So. When was the last time you had a physical?” Kunai scratched her ear for a moment.

“Um… one time our company doctor had to check if an arm I broke was healing…” Emily’s normally chipper face dropped a solid notch, but quickly regained its typical upbeat state. She started pulling on a rubber glove and looked at Kunai with a mischievous grin.

“This is gonna be a lot of fun!” She snapped the glove tight, forcing Kunai to recoil in terror.

“Do we have to do this?” Kunai moaned.

The Doc smiled. “Oh it’ll be fine! Cap’n just needs to know you’re ready for duty!”

Emily swiveled her chair away from Kunai and began filling out paperwork, giving the teenager a better chance to examine Albatross’ little clinic. It was smaller than the kitchen, but twice the size of Kunai’s cabin. There was one bed capable of holding a single person, where Kunai now sat, and fitted for zero-g: straps on all sides, with mounts to hold various pieces of equipment. Above the bed was an armature folded into itself, waiting for commands. Kunai could tell that it was massive when in use. Likely it was a robotic surgeon, or diagnostic gear.

Along the walls were cabinets, with drawers large enough to hold everything from a person to test tubes. At the edge of one wall was a banner with a symbol Kunai had never seen before. It was a cross with two intertwining snakes, all superimposed against a shield.

Over in the corner was a small desk where Emily now sat, with a simple monitor. Hanging above the desk were two framed degrees, and a third, covering a piece of paper with a large block of text.

“Hey, Doc? Those are your PhD’s, right?” Emily glanced up briefly, and gave a chipper laugh, then immediately returned to her paperwork.

“That’s right! Four years of hard work right there. Four years for my zero-g medicine degree and PhD in astro-physics! Only person in my university to get two PhD’s at once! University didn’t even think that was possible! But I showed them!” Kunai cocked an eyebrow in horror.

“You’re a… science doctor and a people doctor?” Kunai choked. Emily laughed.

“Don’t worry, hon, I know what I’m doing. There’s actually a lot of overlap between the two fields!” Kunai’s eyebrow inched a little further up.

“Is there?” She whispered. The Doc kept typing away at her keyboard.

“Yep! And besides, as a doctor, most of what I do is just filter patients into whatever treatment they need. Machines do most of the work now! Try to get in their way and you end up making things worse!”

“What?” Kunai shouted. But Emily had stopped listening. With a final smack of her keyboard, she finished her paperwork and spun on her chair to face Kunai. The two stared at one another for a heartbeat before the Doc rolled her chair to the bed.

“So… how’s the nausea?” she said.

Kunai shrugged. “It comes and goes…” she said, somewhat suspicious.

“Good!” Doc said with a clap of her hands. “That’ll probably wear off in a few weeks.” She put a finger to her chin. “Or actually not, since you spend so much time in gravity… it’d help if you were always weightless, or always in gravity, to help you acclimate to a consistent environment… And we’re about to go planet side, too. That won’t help.” Kunai stared at Doc with wide eyes. Emily seemed to snap back to reality in an instant. “Lay back, hon!”

Kunai did as instructed, and squirmed slightly as the Doc loomed over her.

With a press of a button, the armature on the ceiling partially unfolded itself, revealing a series of scanning devices that hovered over Kunai. With another button, the scanners began to probe Kunai, starting from her feet, and working their way to her head. All the while, Emily scribbled away on a tablet device.

“So I’ve got all the documents you brought on board with you, but I haven’t cracked them open yet, figured we could do that together. If anything sounds wrong, just, sing out…” Emily pulled up a new holographic display and swiped through some of the information. “Did you really dislocate your right shoulder five times?” Emily cried.

Kunai laughed. “Yeah, and the left one once! I almost forgot about that!”

Taking hold of the machinery, the Doc narrowed one of the beams on Kunai’s right shoulder, then her left. With a holographic display, she poured over the readout, making light clucking noises all the while.

“Someone fixed your shoulders. Who? It’s not listed in your files.” Kunai stared at the Doc, who stared right back.

“How did you know… um… the company doc. The surgery was kept off the records so… that…” Kunai trailed off. Emily began to nod her head.

“To keep the company insurance rates low!” The Doc’s face suddenly formed into a mass of hate and discontent. She balled a fist and slammed it into the bed with righteous indignation. “If the Union held sway on every planet, we wouldn’t have these kind of regulatory oversights!” Regaining her composure almost immediately,

Emily continued to pore over Kunai’s files, humming to herself frequently, the pitch and tone altering as she came across new and tantalizing bits of information.

“This is appalling! No checkups, no records, hardly anything beyond your shoulders, the broken arm… and what’s this about a broken fist?”

“Oh wow, did they actually say ‘fist’? Not, like, knuckles, or fingers or something?” Kunai had never seen the Doc more perplexed. “What? If someone hits me, I hit back… I won, anyway.” Emily shook her head and kept reading the file.

“It’s not my fault about all the other stuff! Not much of a social safety net where I came from, not without the Union… and without parents…” But Emily wasn’t paying attention. The scanner had finished its task, and had delivered its results. Her eyes cut into narrow slits, she looked over the data, making her own assessment as to the next move. With a huff of disapproval, she turned again to Kunai, who was now sitting and suddenly very concerned.

“Well, I’m sorry, hon, but I don’t have enough information to clear you for duty.” Kunai’s stomach knotted in terror, and a tremendous weight seemed to fall on her.

She didn’t notice Emily reactivating the scanning device until the armature had unfolded and the balance of the machinery was staring Kunai in the face.

“So we’ll have to make up for lost time!”


	5. Chapter 5

Alyx was on the bridge when Allison drifted inside. Burke and Thai were working diligently below, despite their best efforts, but having the Captain staring over their shoulder likely helped matters. Burke was still upset about the hasty repairs: they threw off his trajectory. Constant reminders from Thai that there was little alternative were rebuffed.

Allison arrived next to the Captain’s chair. Alyx ignored her to the best of her ability.

“We need to talk,” Allison said.

“About what?” Alyx said with a sip of her coffee.

“Kunai.”

Alyx scoffed and returned her cup to its holder. “Alright then. Talk.”

“She’s a liability, Alyx.”

“She’s a seventeen year old girl who gets nauseous every time she transitions between gravity and zero-gravity, how is she a liability?” She said with contempt.

Allison reached into her pocket and removed a tablet, which she brought inches before Alyx’s nose. “That’s why!” Allison shouted, prompting Burke and Thai to turn and take note of the conversation for the first time.

Alyx first glared at Allison, then snatched the tablet from her fingers. She suppressed a look of shock, but her insides broiled. The tablet showed a wanted poster of

Kunai: her age, race, planet of origin, description, and a bounty.

$500,000 Union Notes. The largest she’d ever seen.

Alyx frowned and handed the tablet back to Allison, who snatched it away. She pointed a finger at Alyx and glared.

“I told you this would happen. I told you this would happen and you didn’t listen. Now every bounty hunter in the sector will be coming after her!” She shouted. Alyx was unfazed.

“She’ll be safe on Rockport until I get her registered with the guild. No one would be stupid enough to touch her then.”

Allison recoiled. “Are you dense? This isn’t just going to go away!”

Alyx sighed and looked at the other moment with barely disguised fury.

“No, it won’t, Allison.” She picked up her coffee cup. “But I wasn’t about to abandon Kunai when I thought she’d be safe, and I’m twice not about to abandon her now that I know she’s in danger.”

“We’re the ones in danger! She’s just some street rat who squeezed her way on board! Now you’ve put us all at risk because you feel sorry for her!”

For the first time, Alyx allowed her fury to register; with a piercing glare that cut like a laser. She unbuckled herself and stood. The two women stood chest to chest, with the obvious physical advantage going to Allison, who was superior in both height and strength. But as Burke and Thai looked on from below, they could see that the mercenary shrank back, just a little, from the absolute fire pouring from Alyx.

“You seem to have forgotten who you’re speaking to.” Alyx leaned in a little closer. Her voice hadn’t raised a decibel, but Burke and Thai were shivering at the venom dripping from every word.

“You seem to have forgotten that nothing, nothing, comes before the safety of my crew. I’ll keep Kunai on board because she’s an excellent mechanic who helped us in a very grim hour and I cannot let that go unrewarded.” Alyx leaned in closer still, until the two women were nose to nose. “Remind me, Allison. Why did I bring you on board?”

Allison narrowed her eyes; her hand began sliding toward the knife she stored on her lower back. Alyx shifted one foot behind her, Burke and Thai’s eyes widened.

“I’m the reason your crew is still alive,” Allison hissed between gritted teeth.

“Our crew, Allison, you’re part of it. But I know you try to forget that.” Alyx took a sip from her coffee and resumed her seat. Allison stood impotently by the chair, her lips curled into a snarl. Alyx looked outside. “You know, you and Kunai actually have a fair bit in common. You may even get along, despite your best efforts.” Alyx looked up at Allison. “You could give her a chance.”

Allison’s eyes narrowed again in disgust.

“We done?”

Alyx paused a moment, swirling the coffee in her cup. She enjoyed the feeling of the weight constantly shifting depending on the speed she moved the cup and the attitude she held it at. After a sufficient time, she looked out the viewport again.

“We’re done.”

Allison let out one last hiss before floating out of the bridge. Alyx sipped her coffee and folded her hands in her lap, the incident seemingly forgotten. Burke and Thai exchanged a look.

 

Two hours later, Kunai opened the port side hatch and slithered into the cargo bay. Her session with the Doc had been utterly draining. She floated for a moment before Grim flew by.

“Was lying down for the Doc really that exhausting?” He called. Kunai closed her eyes and draped herself across the deck, a hand across her forehead in an imitation of shock. She looked at Grim.

“Soul crushing,” she said with drama. Grim smirked.

“Clean bill of health?”

“Clean as they get!” Kunai called back with enthusiasm.

“Right. Well then, easy parts over. Time to earn your paycheck, Kunai.” He floated off, not even looking back to see if Kunai was following.

 

“So, have you ever worked in an exo-skeleton before?” Grim asked. The two were floating in parallel along the length of the cargo bay, pulling themselves by the handlebars and ductwork that lined the hull. They were making steady progress towards the stern end, where Jack was clipping into his own exo by the storage locker.

“No, I never needed to,” Kunai answered with embarrassment.

“Alright, well,” Grim said, stroking his beard in exasperation, “this’ll be an adventure for you then.” The two arrived just in time to see Jack button up the chest piece of his exo skeleton. He curled his fingers, with the motion being mirrored by the massive hands of the exo. Satisfied that everything was in working order, he looked to Kunai.

“I’ve already got one set up for you,” he said, pointing towards an empty exo outside the storage locker. “It’s pretty easy to pull on, all you have to do is-” Jack started, but Kunai was already clipping herself in. Through trial and error she managed to clip her feet and chest on, and with only a moments hesitation, navigated the task of slipping on the “gloves” that let her control the suits massive mechanical hands.

“You know how exo-skeleton’s work, right?” Jack asked as Kunai powered up the hands

Kunai scowled and shook her head. “Not really.”

Grim raised an eyebrow at the venom in Kunai’s voice, but the jab seemed to escape Jack’s notice. “It’s pretty simple. The suits use something called Reverse Feedback. You move, and they move with you. But they can also amplify your strength a hundred fold. All you have to do is add a little bit of extra pressure, and the suit tries to release that pressure,” Jack said, demonstrating by pressing his hands against one another.

Kunai played with the hands for a several moments, a sense of power extending throughout her body. She looked towards Jack, a quizzical expression on her face.

“You can lift ten metric tons in standard gravity using one of these suits,” Jack finished.

Kunai stopped her playing and looked at Jack. “Wait, aren’t we weightless right now? Why do we need help moving stuff?”

“Think fast!” Grim called. The two turned towards Grim, only to see a massive black sphere hurtling directly towards Jack’s head. Acting on instinct, he sprang into motion, and caught the ball in his exo-skeletons mechanical hands. The force of the catch nearly blew him off his feet, but he was somehow stuck fast to the deck.

“Does that seem weightless to you?” Grim called. Jack gasped in exasperation, and suddenly noticed he was almost parallel to the deck. Kunai stared in shock.

“The boots are also, magnetic. You have to raise your toes to turn the magnet off,” Jack said as he returned to a standing position. He demonstrated by repositioning his feet for a throw. “It takes some getting used to.” Kunai laughed lightly. Grim stared down at her, a mischievous grin on his face.

“Physics lesson for the day, Kunai,” Grim said, presenting his open palm to Jack. The sailor grimaced and threw the ball with all his might, but it was easily intercepted by Grim. He let the ball go and allowed it to float just before him. “Mass.” Grim held up his hand and clenched it into a fist. “Times acceleration.” With lightning speed he thrust his fist into his open palm, a loud crack! ringing out through the cargo bay. “Equals force. The ability to change something’s shape, or velocity.”

He pointed toward their cargo. “Some of these crates weigh up to five hundred tons. In zero gravity, even a mosquito could move them, over about a century. We don’t have that kind of time. The exo-skeleton can generate more force than a human, moving heavier things faster.” He grabbed the ball. “But more importantly…” in one fluid motion, Grim cocked the ball back, and threw it square at Kunai’s chest.

In a split second, she unstuck her right foot from the deck, and slid it behind her, bracing for the impending impact. She brought her hands to her chest, palms out, ready for interception. With the ball two meters away, Kunai was ready.

In less than a second though, Allison shot down from above, and positioned herself between the ball and Kunai. In an instant, the mercenary placed one hand on the breastplate of Kunai’s exo, and one foot atop Kunai’s reinforced boot. Now braced for impact, Allison took the full force of the ball’s kinetic energy, and absorbed it with ease, the artificial muscles in her body hardly straining at all.

The three un-augmented crewmen stood by in awe.

“More importantly, it allows you to stop them.” Allison turned her jade green eyes to Grim.

“Fresh word. It’ll be another hour before we can stop spinning and move cargo,” she said. Grim shrugged.

“Well, what of it? Plenty else to do on this ship! Spin gravity or not!” Kunai and Jack exchanged somewhat disappointed glances before Allison floated down into the center of them.

“I’ve got a better idea,” she said with a look at Kunai. The mercenary’s eyes were narrow slits, with hostility screaming out at laser precision. Kunai shivered in her exo.


	6. Chapter 6

Kunai was advancing.

She was climbing arm over hand from one crate to the next, moving like an ape up the line of cargo. She was breathing deep, a ferocious gleam in her eye. Every inch of her was bruised, and she was dripping in sweat. Floating for a moment, she wiped her face with the back of her exo’s hand, then pressed onward, her magnetic boots touching down just long enough to give her the leverage she needed to reach the next crate.

They had been playing for near an hour now, the teams split by seniority. There was a goal at either end of the bay: a blue ring for Allison and Grim, and orange for Jack and Kunai. It was 3-3, and with only a few minutes left, every second counted. Kunai heard movement to her left, and spun in the air, ready to intercept. Seeing nothing, she tumbled again and continued her charge, stumbling slightly on landing. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her fraying nerves. Jack was moving ahead of her, acting as her vanguard.

Suddenly, Jack stopped. He grabbed onto a crate and brought himself to a crouch, surveying the cargo bay. Kunai did likewise, her free hand inching toward the massive padded hammer magnetically attached to her back. The two panned their heads back and forth, straining their ears for the sound of magnetic boots on deck plates. Kunai’s head swam in a feeling of vertigo. With some effort, she beat the sensation back and concentrated on the present. Jack’s hand was in the air, Kunai’s eyes locked onto it, waiting for a signal to move. Slowly the hand moved forward, and the two advanced at a much softer pace.

From behind and below, there came a massive smash! and the sound of combat boots crashing into deck plates. Acting on instinct, Kunai turned, and screamed.

Allison was flying towards her at incredible speed, unencumbered by an exo-skeleton, her fist raised, her eyes wide, and her lips curling up in a snarl. A violent energy had consumed her, and her entire body was bent over in anticipation of victory.

“Now!” she shouted. While Kunai braced for interception, Grim spun underneath the mass of cargo, striking Jack from below. With a single swipe of his hammer, he knocked the pilot-in-training off his feet and sent him tumbling into the empty cargo bay.

Kunai had no time to help her teammate. With one arm occupied carrying the ball, she reached behind her and grabbed onto her hammer. It was a meter of plastic topped by a steel weight wrapped in foam cushion. At top speed, the force it produced was enough to send a person flying. Wielding it with one hand, and without bracing herself, Kunai was only hoping that she too wouldn’t go flying from the opposite reaction of force needed to move the hammer.

Swinging with all the might she could squeeze from the exo-skeleton, Kunai smashed the hammer right into Allison’s chest. The impact sent her tumbling, and countered Kunai’s own rotation away from the cargo, to her happy surprise. Her elation was cut short when Grim gave a shout of anger and landed right next to her, his hammer up and ready.

The extra second it took Kunai to unstick her feet and turn to address Grim cost her dearly.

“Yoink!” he shouted before undercutting her legs, ripping the ball from her hands, and shoving her off with a kick of his boots. With one final hoot, he was off, galloping towards Kunai’s goal.

Kunai slammed into the deck, hard, but was on her feet in no time. She could see Grim heading towards the goal at top speed, and realized that there was no way she could catch up to him in time. Dejected, she looked at the deck.

Grim pulled at the cargo netting and turned to look at Kunai, growing ever smaller in the distance.

“That’s game!” he shouted. He laughed as he turned back over, and screamed when he came face to face with Jack.

A grin stretched from ear to ear on the cyborg, his hammer held behind him. With his feet secured tightly to the crate beneath him, he swung the hammer in an arc at robotically assisted speed. His perfect uppercut slammed into the chest plate of Grim’s exo, sending the older man rocketing toward the deck. With his free hand, Jack tore the ball from Grim’s grasp. Repositioning his feet, Jack cocked his arm back and looked at the opposing goal.

“Go long!” Jack shouted.

Kunai was already moving. Her heart pounding, and the exo straining to keep up, Kunai gave a tremendous push off the deck and shot towards the cargo. She managed to align her speed and trajectory perfectly with Jack’s throw, and caught the ball just as it passed center court. Her path was clear, and Kunai was moving at top speed. Careful not to jinx herself like Grim, Kunai maintained a deadly focus.

At the far end of the bay, with deliberate care, Allison climbed on top of the cargo, and placed herself directly in front of Kunai. The two locked eyes, each one attempting to cut through the other with sheer force of will. With the same deliberate care, Allison planted her feet, and prepared herself for Kunai’s arrival.

Kunai briefly considered going around Allison. She could easily bounce off the deck and redirect her attack somewhere else. Then Allison would have to react to Kunai.

But somehow Kunai felt tearing through the cyborg would be an even sweeter victory. So she maintained a steady course, her speed and direction totally unchanged.

As best she could, Kunai held eye contact with Allison the whole way in. To her credit, the red head hadn’t moved an inch.

No less than three meters out, Kunai grabbed onto the nylon webbing, and with a kick of her legs, was suddenly moving with her feet oriented towards Allison, and her back towards the cargo. It took another meter before her opponent knew what was about to come. Thinking quickly, Allison swung her fists over her head, intent on bringing Kunai to a violent stop. But it was too late.

With massive force, Kunai drove her boots directly into Allison’s chest, eliciting a very satisfying shout of pain and shock. The two flew straight and true towards the opposite wall for a half second before Kunai executed a flawless backflip. Her speed and trajectory awarded her a perfect landing next to the goal where she inserted the ball, caught it on the opposite side, and landed on the bulkhead beyond.

“Woohoo!” she shouted. She slammed the ball down and placed one foot on top. “Go team!” Jack landed nearby, gave a shout of happiness, and high fived Kunai, a loud metallic clang resounding through the ship.

Grim sat down nearby and rubbed his soars.

“Alright, let’s try this again when I’m younger. That’s how time works, right?” Grim said, one eye closed as he massaged his chest.

“You’re done already?” Jack asked, sitting on the cargo.  
“Tired of takin’ a beatin’, eh, Grim?” Kunai asked. She had the ball back in her hands now, twirling it in her palm. “Jack and I got this place locked down! Right?” She glanced to Jack, who took a practice swing with his hammer.

 

“Big talk for someone who can’t handle gravity without puking,” Grim said. Kunai sneered at him.

“Come on! Let’s settle this on the court!” Jack returned.

“Careful, kids.” Allison said from her perch above the other three. Kunai looked up at the combat cyborg. The red head glared down at them all. “This is how people get hurt.”

Grim was on the verge of responding when Alyx’s voice cut through the air like a knife: “Mr. Grim! Prep the cargo for immediate spacewalk! You have one hour!”

“Bugger me, what’s the rush?” he said to himself. Grim pushed off the cargo and floated to a terminal. Barking into it he said, “Where’s the fire, Captain?”

“Rockport’s choking with traffic! A whole fleet’s worth of it! They’ve only just told us! You’ve got your orders, Grim. Prep for spacewalk, unload, then we burn for orbit!”

With a snap, Alyx closed the line, leaving Grim standing in front of the terminal. He turned his head, his eyebrow cocked, his brow furrowed. He looked at Kunai.

“Another time then.”

 

It was exacting work. The cargo had to be removed from its central position in the bay to the floor. When it was explained to Kunai, it had sounded simple enough. But the intricate dance between uncoupling a crate from its moorings, placing her feet, securing her hands and coordinating with the others was a delicate procedure that was prone to error. Twice she’d almost been crushed under a crate, and had lost track of the number of times she’d almost had her exo’s fingers crushed to powder.

As they removed some cargo, other parts came free. Soon there were crates, some of them the size of a fridge, others the size of cars, floating freely. Corralling them was an absolute nightmare, but even worse was rearranging them if the order wasn’t correct. Despite however many knots Kunai put into a rope to keep a crate held fast to the deck, it always seemed to come loose. Prompting her to chase after the wayward object before it caused some damage.

They used tie downs, ropes and cargo netting to secure everything in its final place. After they were finished, Grim did a spot check. Certain things had to be tightened, loosened, removed or replaced altogether. He was an utterly uncompromising taskmaster. But unlike the similarly evil bastards Kunai worked for on Halcyon, she never once raised her voice to Grim. She recognized the hierarchy here, and his position as her mentor, and protector.

Finally they pulled out a massive translucent poly-composite bag and slipped it over the mass of cargo. Once it was sealed, Grim passed an electric current through it, making the bag hard as stone. Once done, he floated down to Jack and Kunai.

“Alright you two, suit up, time to go outside.” Kunai’s eyes shot wide open, her heart rate spiked. Suddenly she felt very, very sick.

“What now?”


	7. Chapter 7

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ACT THREE

“It’s simple. We drop the cargo off, put our gear into storage somewhere, ride the elevator down,” Grim said. He shrugged his massive shoulders, an easy smile on his face. “Rockport’s like a second home. We’ve got a house on the beach. You’ll love it.”

Kunai continued to stare at her boots. Grim bent a little lower.

“You alright?” he asked. Kunai smiled and looked at him.

“Just a lot to take in for my first day,” she said with a small laugh. Grim gave her a massive grin.

“Welcome to the Albatross.” He put his helmet on, with Kunai doing the same. “Just follow my lead, and everything will work out. You can do this, Kunai. I know it. Alyx knows it. No worries.” He slapped her on the shoulder, delivered one last smile, and marched off to his corner of the cargo.

Grim’s in-suit radio crackled to life.

“ _How is she?_ ” Alyx asked.

“Kunai?” Grim looked over his shoulders. Kunai was adjusting her equipment. Her skin had lost some of its color, and her eyes were wide as dinner plates. Grim frowned.

“Well, she’s taking everything in stride…” Grim said with a tilt of his head.

“ _She seems eager to please_.” Alyx replied. She took a sip of her coffee. “ _Keep an eye on her. And be careful out there_.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Grim answered.

 

Kunai fiddled with her gloves, her harness, and her helmet. Anything to keep from looking around her. Suddenly she was struck by a wave of nausea; her stomach growled, long and loud. She closed her eyes and put a hand to her gut, moaning all the while. With her eyes shut, she couldn’t see the COMMS tab in her helmet’s HUD flash an incessant red before Allison’s name appeared, the word PRIVATE appearing just below. The mercenary walked up to Kunai, her magnetic boots crashing down on the plating.

“ _Careful, puke in that helmet, and you’ll choke on breakfast_ ,” she said. Kunai gagged, then stood upright.  
Allison was in her armor: a jet-black nightmare of titanium plating and death. Only her eyes, visible through the tiny slit in her helmet, betrayed her human nature. Kunai was sweating now, her jaw slack, her breath ragged. Allison placed a hand on the shorter woman’s helmet, and leaned in until the two women were nose to nose.

“ _Scared?_ ” Kunai didn’t move a muscle. Allison stood to her full height, and placed her hands on her hips. She shook her head. “Out here in the black. This is no place for cowards.” Allison leaned in a little closer. “ _Fear’s nothing to be ashamed of. No one would be surprised if you wanted off_.” Kunai looked directly into Allison’s eyes, a fire suddenly alight deep inside her.

“I’m not afraid!” she shouted.

The two women stared at each other for a moment. Kunai struggled to maintain her composure, but every second was a fight just to stay standing. Eventually, Allison shrugged, and headed for her position at the end of the cargo; the COMMS tab closing as she walked away.

“ _Alright, people! Here we go!_ ” Grim called over the public channel. With a press of a button, Grim keyed the ramp to lower, and took up position next to the cargo. Kunai did likewise, as she’d been previously instructed. She watched now, with one hand gripping the mass of cargo, as the ramp lowered.

“ _And up!_ ” Grim called. All four of them grabbed a piece of the cargo and lifted, the thousand-ton mass ascending with ease. “Forward!” Each one leaned forward, unstuck their feet, and with the easy maneuvering of a joystick mounted on the inside curve of their hands between the index and thumb, activated their booster frames.

The cargo moved forward at a steady speed, barely more than a brisk walk. When Kunai was a meter short of the ramp, Grim gave the order to cut thrusters. They floated out of the cargo bay under momentum alone.

As Kunai crossed the threshold, she was suddenly immersed in oppressive quiet. The sounds of the ship disappeared, and instead all she could hear was her lungs straining against the tight body suit, the moist air as it fought past the phlegm in her esophagus, and the scrubbers as they worked to clear the deadly carbon dioxide from the air.

“I can’t hear anything,” Kunai said into her helmet.

“ _You’ve just passed through a force field that keeps atmosphere in the ship. Out here in space, there’s no atmosphere, and so no way for sound to travel. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine_ ,” Grim answered.

“ _Yeah, it’s just space. No big deal_ ,” Jack cut in.

The “forward” command appeared on Kunai’s HUD again. She keyed the booster frame, braced against the acceleration, then cut her engines when the icon disappeared.

Kunai took a few deep breaths, fighting to create a sense of peace. With some trepidation, she looked away from her exo’s hand, and examined all the space around her.

There were hundreds of ships of every make and model, floating silently through the black. She could see massive unmanned cargo freighters, and sleek corvettes like the Albatross. There were tiny little shuttles, squat dropships and even a military cruiser. All of them caught in a swirling mass of steel centered around the space station.

Kunai watched this dance in absolute awe. Everything was cast in deep shadow, the sun just winking over the horizon as the planet turned. Rockport’s two moons were beaming light back at the station now though, giving everything a disturbing glow.

“ _I can’t tell, is the sun rising, or setting?_ ” Jack asked.

“ _Yes. The planet is still spinning,_ ” Grim replied.

“ _Thanks, Grim_.”

“ _It’ll be about 10PM when we land, Jack_.” It was Alyx. Kunai saw motion in her peripheral vision and turned to see the Albatross heading for the planet, and Alyx, seated in her chair, looking up at the four of them.

 

“Keep them safe, Grim. I’ll see you all down there.” Alyx stared at Kunai, a concerned expression on her face. She paused for a moment, pulled a sip from her coffee, and returned to her monitors.

 

“ _Aye aye, mum, see you soon_ ,” Grim replied. The command prompt appeared on Kunai’s HUD. She keyed her engines in time with the other three, and the mass of cargo leapt forward. She watched as several ships altered their trajectories to avoid them, and could see a few heads turn their way.

“ _How you doing back there, Kunai?_ ” Grim asked.

“Fine!” Kunai choked, a little too loudly.

There was a long pause. Kunai began to sweat in her suit, and struggled to breathe in the hot, moist air.

“ _Alright, well, if there are any problems, just… sing out!_ ” Grim replied.

“ _Jack? How’s your trigonometry?_ ” Grim asked. The order to cut engines was given, and Kunai rolled onto her back just in time to see Jack climb on top of the cargo.

“ _It’s okay, just don’t make me count past ten_ ,” he replied. He placed one hand against his helmet, and keyed a switch. Sensor data scrolled across his HUD, and a holographic display on his wrist sprang to life. “ _Distance to target is seven three eight meters and closing at a speed of two one meters per second. Adjust heading one five X, zero five Y degrees and accelerate for five seconds_.”

“ _We’re gonna get there pretty quick at that rate,_ ” Grim said. Jack returned to his position on the crate.

“ _Yep. So get ready to slow down in a hurry_.” The group cut their engines and coasted. The space station was growing larger by the second.

Kunai inhaled deeply. A knot was beginning to form in her stomach, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. She shut her eyes, trying to squeeze her panic away. It didn’t work.

“ _Standby!_ ” Grim called. Kunai opened her eyes and cried out. The space station was drifting past them at impossible speeds, and moved absolutely silently. It was so close Kunai could reach out and touch it.

“ _Stay calm, Kunai! We’re gonna execute a maneuver in a moment. When I give the word, fire your jets inboard until the crate is pointing towards the station, then counter the maneuver, and thrust outboard!_ ” Grim paused. “ _Understand?_ ”

“Yeah,” Kunai choked out.

“You sure?”

“ _Positive!_ ”

“ _Good, because it’s go time!_ ” Jack called. “ _Fire now!_ ” Kunai grimaced. She grabbed onto the crate with both hands, twisted her body and fired her thrusters as instructed. She looked at Allison, and was relieved to see the cyborg had executed a similar maneuver.

“ _Forward!_ ” Grim shouted.

Kunai twisted again and let loose with the thrusters. As Kunai passed through the hangar’s force field, the roar of engines and machinery filled her ears. She panicked, but held fast.

“ _Down and hold!_ ” Grim called. Once more, Kunai twisted, keyed her thrusters, and slammed the cargo onto the deck.

Kunai remained at her station, her helmet pressed up against the cargo. Robots worked around her, overseen by human foreman. Massive cranes moved cargo. But all Kunai cared about was the knot in her stomach growing ever larger, and her helmet fogging up ever so slowly.  
Jack tapped her on the helmet.

“We’re done!” he said. Kunai stared at him, a blank expression on her face. Jack gave her a quizzical look and pressed off the deck towards Grim. Kunai removed her helmet, and quickly followed.

“Not so bad, eh, Kunai?” Grim asked. He and Allison were already in the tube leading to the center of the station and its spin-induced gravity. Kunai floated towards him, a soft smile on her face.

“Yeah,” she glanced out the cargo hatch, and into the space outside. “Not too bad.” Grim thumped her on the shoulder as he climbed towards the outboard wall.

“That’s the attitude,” he said. “We’ll make a spacer out of you yet.” Kunai smiled sheepishly.

The team finally entered the gravity area, and touched down, their bodies returning to earth normal gravity. As Kunai’s boots touched metal, the knot in her stomach disappeared, to be immediately replaced by overwhelming nausea. With no warning, Kunai doubled over, and vomited on the deck.

“Might take a while, though,” Jack said.

 

“Bring everyone home, Grim?” Alyx asked as she opened the door. She’d changed out of her baggy free-fall clothes and into more casual attire. Kunai cocked an eyebrow. She looked good.

“Yes, mum,” Grim replied as he stepped inside.

Kunai had been too tired to pay attention on the ride to the house, and she was too tired still to take stock of the details around her. She passed without focus through the doorway, past the entry hall, and into the living room and kitchen where Burke, Thai, and Emily waited around the table.

Everyone briefly greeted one another, cracked a few jokes, before quickly shifting to the topic of dinner and plans for the evening. Kunai ignored all of this. Her attention was directed toward a singular point. Through the windows in the back, Kunai could see a sight more beautiful than all the stars in the sky. Slowly she made her way outside, and onto the deck. She removed her boots with exceptional care, and stepped, her feet light, onto the sand.

It was cool, and wet, and soft. But even this she paid little mind. Her entire consciousness hung six thousand kilometers away, with Rockport’s two moons. Reflecting back the soft light of the planet’s small sun, they were a bright white, and surrounded by millions of stars.

Kunai stared at them, hanging there. But slowly, her gazed shifted back down to the beach. She placed her head on her folded arms, and sighed.


End file.
